Christmas Presents

I always have a hard time coming up with gift ideas for my dad. I can usually whip up something slightly meaningful for my mom, but dad is another story...

So this year I just straight up asked him to send me some ideas. Among links to his amazon "wish list" and the REI/Campmoor homepage was this little gem:

Meet the Bumper Dumper.

yea that's right, I hear what you're sreaming...where was THAT sucker on the family roadtrip when you were 5 (or 23) and couldn't hold it any longer and all that was available was an empty gatorade bottle?!

September 21, 2009

Show-n-Tell

Just thought I'd show off a recent job for a client (that I used to babysit for!).


BEFORE:

DURING:
Our client wanted to update their master bath and create a softer spa-like retreat.
They wanted to get rid of the drop-in shower, but keep the existing cabinetry and tile flooring.
Enter brainstorming and sketches...
...and BOOM!

AFTER:

Candice Who?!

September 8, 2009

attention wal-mart shoppers, let me introduce you to my newest boredom fix:

yellow go-go boots.

err....not.

"Check-out" this handsome fellow and more on www.peopleofwalmart.com
your life will never be the same.

August 25, 2009

My roommate and I split a 24 pack of toilet paper, purchased at the beginning of June. She's already out. 12 rolls of 2-ply in a month and a half? How many squares do YOU use on a standard wipe?

March 17, 2009

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

So on a typical Tuesday afternoon, I take a little girl to her Irish Dance class. It's cute to see flocks of 8 year-olds prancing around to these peppy jigs when they'd much rather be collecting points on their webkinz. But today she didn't have dance class...go figure, Irish dance doesn't meet on St. Patrick's day?

I have always had a secret affinity for St. Patrick's day. Our family is of Irish heritage, and I don't know...I kinda think its cool. I would LOVE to visit Ireland someday...maybe leprechauns frolic in fields of shamrocks year round over there?

My grandpa (the mall-walker) always writes and Irish saying in every card he gives out. He's a simple man and apparently the great Irish forefathers say it better than Hallmark sometimes. These are the 3 sayings that he rotates through, depending on the occasion:

"May you live as long as you want, and never want as long as you live."= Happy Birthday
"As you slide down the banisters of life may the splinters never point the wrong way."= Congratulations
"May your pockets be heavy and your heart be light, may good luck pursue you each morning and night."= Spend this check wisely.

Gimme da Gold.

February 15, 2009

Shoo...Let's just face some facts here: I'm pretty much an incredible blogger (if by blogging you mean twice a year). 'Blogs' have been the topic of conversation recently, and I get my hopes up, but then it turns out my life isn't as cool as I thought. So I'll just apologize now if I let you down.

A lot has changed since my last post...ha.
And then again, if you know about this blog then you're already up to speed. end post.

BUT I saw this commercial on TV tonight and was curious. It was advertising Sunsweet Ones: Individually Wrapped Plums. (Where have these been my whole life?)

Apparently they A."promote weight loss"and B. "maintain regularity"- just to name a couple great side effects. Um A. it's a good thing they are individually wrapped, I have to restrain myself when they come in the little metal tub- talk about adding on the pounds. and well i'm not going to comment on B. I'm not hating, I'm sure they're great I just found it slightly amusing.

Hope to see you on a regular basis.

:o)

July 6, 2008

My newest Best Friend

Delaney.

I've been home (in Mebane!) for the weekend to 'celebrate' 4th of July, aka: eat a homemade meal and listen to the fireworks during the thunderstorm? But whatev...so Saturday we picked up the newest addition to our Family, Delaney. Ahhhh she is so stinkin' cute, like a portable cotton ball! It's been a long 3 mos without a golden around the house, since Murphy passed away- so we are VERY excited to have another little companion. I'm really sad that I have to leave and only get to hang out with her when I make trips home, but I think that's okay for now: I'm gonna stick with the potty training humans thing for a little longer and leave the puppy training to my parents.
:o)

July 2, 2008

You know its a great day when the most common phrase out of your mouth is...
"push out all your pee-peeies."

My mom would be proud.

Yes, I am potty training two two-year-olds. (Thanks for the college degree) Between the three of us we spend some quality time in the bathroom, talking about quality things:

Me: Okay Mary Elizabeth, I need you to push out all your pee-peeies in the potty.
ME: I don't want to.
Me: Well all the cool kids are doing it.
ME: Well can you help me?
Me: Uhhh...I'm gonna let you work that out yourself.
ME: Okay, I'm gonna make 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 pee-peeies.
Me: Uhhh...alrighty go ahead.
ME: I don't want to.
Me: Yes you do...but it's okay if you're a little afraid to pee-pee at first.
ME: Can you help me?
Me: Foreal? Didn't we just cover this....

I don't do the whole sticker/candy for producing in the potty. I mean really, I can't think of the last time I got a treat for going to the bathroom. Does that make me a bad potty-trainer?
But anyways after all that, the day ended with some even better quality time with some quality girls at The Rockford and Locopops! That coconut sesame lime pop is all mine.....next time.

Alright...well I'm gonna go pop some jellybeans to compensate myself for those 5 times I used the potty today.

June 22, 2008

A year and a half later...

It's summertime again, and I'm NOT in Mebane!
I was recently reminded of how cool my blog was when I kept it up, so after like 11 attempts to sign in, with all the wrong username and password combos, the kind people at the Blogger Headquarters emailed me the right info and here we are.

Since I've been pretty successful at pretending to be a real adult, having 'real' job(s) an all, I thought I'd give this thing another round. (completely blaming it all on LEH for transplanting to Seattle for a year) And speaking of.....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAUREE!!
(yea..we don't play when it comes to celebrating this girl.)

But for real, this is kinda cute, I think I remember wishing you happy birthday on here like 2 years ago too, so you can thank me later for the publicity.


So we'll see...this might be all you get for awhile. thanks for reading.

THOUGHT FROM THIS WEEKEND:
Which is the less hick-ish way to pronounce the word bouquet?
A.) BOW-kay
B.) BOO- kay

*NOTE: in order for the above to be pronounced properly, you need to fully extend all vowel sounds for at least 2.5 seconds.

December 23, 2006

You know you live in the South when...

We did Christmas "dinner" early with both sets of my grandparents tonight, and instead of the typical ham or turkey we did up some BBQ. Yep threw 4 shoulders on the cooker last night, and all we was missing was them hush puppies and TAB soders. Aww shoot is was a good time though, we had us some beans, cole slaw and tater salad.

Aight now, the real festivites begin tomorrow... Merry Almost Christmas Eve!!!

December 20, 2006

What's up my Rowdies!

I'm home again, on an extended stay (3weeks) so I thought I'd hit up the blog since it's been a few months! I'd update at school, but since I'm just so busy studying all the time, there's just no room in my schedule to waste on "internetting". So school's out, unfortunately not for a snow day, just the typically winter break and I am so grateful for a few weeks of relaxation and no responsibilities. Hooray Christmas is only FIVE days away!!

I'm seven days into my break and so far I've:
-passed all my classes (no sweat)
-adopted a child/ babysat all weekend at a wedding in Chapel Hill
-visited my lovely roomate, who is recovering like a champ from her "brain surgery"...although I was a little disappointed the surgeon didn't give her a clef palette like we planned ;-)
-hosted our 11th Annual Christmas Party: pink and green style
-thought about washing my car, but didn't
-hit up the library for some good reads
-begun to catch up on sleep missed during exams
-been to Walmart once, take that back twice.
-visited the dentist, no cavaties.
-and of course...had a spanakopita (Greek pastry with delicious spinachy stuff inside)

All in all it's been a pretty successful first few days. Pictures will follow.













11th Annual Chirstmas Party photo opps


Gift exchangin'







Notice the handpainted ornaments



Murphy was playing along too














What's a party with out some 'ol school games??












Merry Christmas from the Eastside.

August 7, 2006

Ahh...how cool are they?! (this band: Ok Go has some crucial moves)

....next time you see me at the gym, watchout I'll be practicing.

August 5, 2006

YEP. it was decided that this eventful night needed it's own blogpost because...well...this doesn't happen too often. So buckle your seatbelt and read on! (check back for some photos)

We thought it was going to be just another ordinary friday night in Alamance County. Ashley and I headed into Graham to meet Meredith for dinner at Barrister's. After salads and sandwhiches, we walked across the street to catch the 7 o'clock-2 dollar showing of The Break Up. After 1hr 46mins of feeling as if we'd been yelled at by Vince Vaughn, with the occasional happy appearance of Geoff Stults (Aniston's studly date who enjoys virtual football rather than martini bars.), the girls and I left our cushy, febreeze soaked chairs and joined the masses leaving the theater.

After spotting sketchy blue lights on the other side of the courthouse, we decided to drive Meredith over to her car and then opted for a quick milkshake at Cookout. Multiple road blockages made us curious as we detoured our way to Cookout. We noticed large dancing balloons in front of the couthouse with music playing. So after our trip through the drive thru we figured we had a little time to kill, especially since I didn't have to be home until 11pm, so we headed back up to check it out. And hold my milkshake...it was none other than our boys: Liquid Pleasure! (Ashley and I planned MC's Spring Fling in April, and we had them as our band, so basically we're all pretty tight)

Turns out Graham was celebrating 50 years of the arts council (insert question mark.) But, OH what a great time! The boys brought the soul and the red-hat society brought their "tush-push" (just image Katy Champion slow motion). Kenny Mann and the gang even held their own dance-off with prizes including paid child support, and a can of pork-n-beans.

After the YMCA, Ashley and I decided to head out on What a Wonderful World. A slight breeze kept us from dripping with sweat, but a second ride through Cookout was in order for some more liquids. As we pulled out we heard a loud thump on the side of Ashley's car. Confused at thinking we'd driven off with a portion of the Cookout window, we were relieved to find out that it was actually fireworks. Not wanting to miss anything, we hit up a perfect parking space in the Lowe's foods joint and sat back to enjoy. Graham obviously didn't want to be left out of the 4th of July festivities...even if they were a MONTH late!

What a crazy unexpected night. Stay tuned for some more wacky adventures in the Alamance County scene.

August 3, 2006

WOW...where did July go?! So I've been busy...ya know babysitting/ catching up with peeps/ being lazy...therefore not leaving much time to update. Again, not like you've missed much, but here ya go:

Everybody is back in the country now! Yay for Hayley and Melissa making it back safely from Down Unda. This past week Meredith and I caught up with the Rice girls over lunch, and then this weekend, I ventured out to Raleigh Saturday (to babysit) and then hung out with the Athens Drive girls and got some Providence action on Sunday.

Just for FUN:

-Have trouble waking up in the morning? Forget the calories of coffee just smear on this new caffeinated lip balm…Spazzstick. Napoleon Dynamite would be proud.

-Hecht’s stores will become Macy’s in September.

This weekend is tax-free shopping, so don’t forget to buy your Trapper Keepers!

-Tainting the landscape of Alamance Co…. (CAUTION: graphic material, cover your kid's eyes).

mmmkay.

I'm going to let you in on a few random thoughts from this week:

-Is it ever okay to “make change” from the offering plate as it passes?

-Gas prices change daily, but who changes them (physically) and when? Like today, it was 2.82 this morning and by lunch it was 2.95…who DOES that?!

-In case you haven't noticed it's too HOT outside!

and...I just need to clarify something…how do YOU say coupon? Is it:

A) Q-pon

B) coo-pon

FYI: How to build delicious cupcakes

1. Line muffin cups with colorful paper liners.

2. Mix ingredients. Dump mixture in colorful paper liners. Bake. Trust friends to guard your icing.

3. Clean up while waiting.

4. Remove from oven and cool.

5. Get your ice on(sprinkles as needed) and EAT!

July 18, 2006

So…it’s been a little while since I updated last, and that’s pretty much because there’s not much to update you on! It’s so great to finally have friends returning home…but that only means the summer is coming to an end. Although I’m certainly excited about returning to campus in a few weeks! I hope all of you (Aussies and Seattlites) are doing fabulous and enjoying the remainders of your adventures…I can’t wait to see you all soon! Here’s a few headlines from home:

Weather: Pretty Steamy

I really hope it’s cooler…wherever you are.

(in case you missed that…yes, that is a THREE-digit number for Tuesday.)

....AND Tropical Storm Beryl is brewing off the coast of NC.

So...the highlight of my beach trip would have to be that... we passed the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile on our way there! (it was amazing.)

Ashley is HOME from Argentina…horray!

Another one bites the DUST!
Another mobile unit has been transported from its previous location. I thought they might be leaving their porch behind, but no worries they definitely converted it to a porta-porch.

The owner of Hooters, Robert “Bob” Brooks, 69, passed away Saturday in his Myrtle Beach home. His survivors include his wife, 5 siblings, grandchildren, his son and his daughter, Boni Belle Brooks.

Pamela Anderson and Kid Rock are scheduled to be married by July 29^th. Maybe it’ll last long enough to spot them at future Canes games!

.......Remember these guys?!?

FYI: according to my grandmother, wearing socks with your water shoes decreases your chance of blisters by about 99.3%

OH and if your bun at Bojo’s is too black for your taste…take it back, they do exchanges.

(what IS today's date?)

SOO...

I forgot to mention this, but I've actually left the STATE! (horray for south carolina!) I've been at the beach since Saturday...and will be here for a week...stranded with plenty (7) of children under the age of 10...ahhh vacation. Last night was BINGO night, tonight was tie-dye night, tomorrow night is putt-putt...wish you were here. So I'll be back to updating foreal when I return! See you (ASHLEY!) when I get home! Happy adventures and safe travels to you all! Love you!

July 6, 2006

Learn to Expand your Vocabulary:

New words have recently been added to the dictionary. Now these can't be just any ordinary word, they have to be timeless and something that won't be outta style next week. These new additions include drama queen, soul patch, himbo (think male bimbo), google, mouse potato (an intensive computer user), ringtone, supersize, and forget ‘cheating’ it’s now: polyamory (the state or practice of having more than one open romantic relationship at a time).

Hollywood/ Entertainment:

Pirates of the Caribbean opens tomorrow!

Oh yea...remember when we thought that J-Tim and Cameron had split?? Well looks like they’re back on again, and Justin has a new album in the works.

Grey’s Anatomy is looking at several Emmy nominations, I think about 11 so far.

Other/Random News:

Warning: Mentos + Diet Coke = explosive
(umm...I hope this works?):

Molly and I have been hangin out during the days all summer. We like to take long walks to the park, visit the butterflies at the Museum of Life and Science or hit up the local popsicle store off ninth street. There are some crazy flavors in this place, including white chocolate peanut butter, brownie batter, mango-peach chili, and avocado. Our favorite is by far cookies and cream. Just recently we took a trip to AC Moore and picked out lots of fun things to do, but not before we named just about every colored peice of paper in the store: electric pink, sunshine yellow, bubblegum pink, sunflower yellow...you get the point. Molly is very creative and loves being crafty and if you haven't caught on yet...is very aware of her colors. She frequently corrects me when I use pink as a generic term (it's magenta, etc) who knew!

(...and I didn't even teach her this trick!)

The neighborhood trailer park, across the street from my ‘hood is being re-zoned. Mebane is intending to go in and build multiple Charleston-like cottages and townhomes for decent prices. Thing is they have to get the current landowners to move first. It’s a very gradual process, but so far we’ve seen one mobile unit hauled out. Talk about easy moving, you don’t even have to pack much less use a U-haul, just pick out a nice grassy spot and set ‘er down!

FYI: Junior King is now working at the Mebane Blockbuster.

July 4, 2006

What's up homies?! Yea...so it's been awhile, I've been trying to make up stuff that would make my summer sound half as cool as yours. And guess what, it's not. Don't get me wrong I have desperately enjoyed my summer and lack of responsibilities. Having to set my alarm clock so I don't sleep away 2 meals has had its benefits as well! Although the sights are no where near as interesting as yours, please know that your photos have been the spice of my life. So keep 'em coming! I'll leave you with a few updates from your homeland...America misses you!!

Happy Birthday America!!

your very own virtual cookout...in order to celebrate our country's independence in style

Also today, America lit the largest firework of all, launching the space shuttle Discovery off to greet a few aliens and some stranded Star Trekkers.


Weather:
This week has managed to be the hottest of the whole summer, with highs in the mid-90's. Here I was wondering if it would ever stop raining and we'd get to see WARMER temperatures...I seriously regret that now.


Sports:
Honestly, I don't really know.
Most of the hit sports have ended, so that leaves what...racing? All I've got for you is random player tradings in the hockey department, which is gearing up to begin again in a few months. Some dude from Belgium is currently dominating the Tour de France now minus Lance Armstrong. And apparently this is not our year for tennis. (Ashley, proof that America has clearly suffered without our skills...no matter what Coach Kovell gave us in class)

Other Stuff:

My cousin, Emme, is the next big thing people...look for her on Broadway!
Participating in her (the one in the center) first ballet

As a new advertising campaign, Cartoon network is using billboards to spread the word. I think it's working because these things are pooping up everywhere and people are talking. Other slogans include: "Pretty, pretty, shiny, shiny" "My girlfriend dumped me" and "I have a meat forehead" (note to self- find an 8yr old and ask him what this means?)

...this one is my favorite.

The 326 Reunion happened last night!!! YAY!! After 6 weeks I finally got to hang out with my roomate! We spent plenty of time catching up, telling fun stories and sharing beautiful pictures...(yes, I lied, I didn't participate much but I had a BLAST listening to her stories and looking at all 200 of her pictures!) =) We headed into B-town to catch their firework display and then drooled over James Franco (in Annapolis) and Mrs. Stirckland's chocolate chess pie...in this situation, the pie totally won.

Mebane held it's own tonight with a crazy fireworks display. It was a pretty bangin' (literally) 25min. display of colorful luminescence. I felt like the Mebane Arts & Community Center had moved into my backyard, seriously we live a good 3 and a half neighborhoods away and I could still hear the music they were playing, inside my house. Sorry Burlington, but we dominated your fireworks this year.

FYI: There is now a Mad Gab Bible Edition.

example- Day Leo Fur Rings. (highlight this with your cursor if you give up: daily offerings)